What is something people usually don’t know about you but has influenced you in who you are?

The biggest influences in my life are good books and education.

First off, good books: People may look at my copious amounts of writing and think that I tend to be very light-hearted (which I am) and somewhat surface level (which I am), but I’ve spent more of my adult life in education than many people that I know. I’m a HUGE consumer of books. Books on technology, social media, and software development are my daily reads. Frankly, one of the reasons I wrote a book “The Scrum Pocket Guideis really a response to the plethora of 300+ page management and software development books that line my bookshelf. I wanted to write something pragmatic, useful, and easy to consume. It’s only 50 pages after all. I’m a huge consumer of philosophy, social science, and even theology books. They bring the rest of the human issues to light and round out the technological slant that I generally have.

Second, higher education: I have a Computer Science and Engineering undergraduate degree. But most people don’t know that I also have three (3) Masters degrees in social sciences: M.A. Counseling, M.A. Education, and a Masters Divinity in Theology. Just think about how much time I have spent in higher education! Learning everything from the human aspect of communication and counseling, understanding empathy, root-cause issues, and communication techniques. What about education philosophy? Everything from different learning styles, to personalities, to education techniques for every group of people. What about Theology? How our ideas about God transform our morals, ethics, ethos, and our worldviews? Mash all of these together and I think you begin to more fully understand the nature of man, his drivers, his personalities, and the deep parts of the soul that make people work.
I always encourage people to “grow their craft” . I believe you become ineffective the day you stop personally striving to learn and grow yourself. Armchair theorists and philosophers have no place in my worldview. That’s why being an Agile Coach is a perfect fit for me as a role and a passion. I love working with people and technology. It doesn’t get much better than that.

If you would not have been in IT, what would have become of you?

I can’t imagine a world where I would be without IT. I love technology, social media, people, and coaching teams to agility. I’ve been doing it since I was a developer back in the mid 90′s. Ever take the Strength Finders test? Well I’m a: Futurist, Competitive, Communicative, Significance, Individualization. This means that I look for the best in people, I want to win, I love to collaborate, I want to do something important for myself and others, and I care deeply about others and their goals. Being an Enterprise Agile Coach allows me to do all of that!!!

But… if I were to stretch my thinking, I think I would be in some sort of medical field, helping others… and probably over time, finding Agile-approaches to doing medicine…

What is your biggest challenge and why is it a good thing for you?

My biggest challenge was pushing myself through a decade of higher level education. Knowing the challenges, the TIME COMMITMENT, and the long late nights of studying it was hard to keep a positive attitude about it at times. Thank God for Agile practices though. I planned accordingly, used a personal kanban board and completed my education and learned discipline, time management, and work-life balance that you can’t learn from a book. Nothing worth working for that is hard will yield little. You learn through the process, you grow as an individual, and end up on the other side grateful that you pushed yourself to do that which is hard. I will soon be embarking on a doctorate in the next couple of years. Why? Because it’s so much fun to learn.

What drives you?

Goodness. Have I covered this enough? Learning and growing. I’m addicted to information.My blog, is a testament to that. I love gathering data, radiating that data and information, and seeing what happens. Some could call me an education junkie. Sure. That works for me. Now, if you actually get some time to sit down with me, you’ll see that I’m a full-of-energy and passionate guy. I may even be a little ADHD, but never had anything diagnosed. I just love to work, seeing the fruits of my labor, and #winning at life.

What is your biggest achievement?

Pro-creating. I have the most beautiful daughter in the world. Thanks to a willing participant in my wife, I did that which far exceeds my greatest successes in business. The second biggest achievement is getting married. But that, my friends, is a story for another time.

What is the last book you have read?

Hard to say. I currently read multiple books at any given time.

Currently I’m reading:

David J. Anderson’s book on Kanban – I’m reading this for the 3rd time because it helps to be reminded of small facets of kanban to help a client I’m working with right now.

C. Stephen Evans Philosophy of Religion – A great book that was published in 1982. My second go at this one.

Daniel Pink’s Drive – Want to take a run on the wild side and take a peek into what motivates us? Totally worth the read. My second time reading this.

Alexander Osterwalder’s Business Model Generation – Fantastic book on how to build a business

Jack Welch’s Winning – Listened to the audio version of this book. Never do that! Jack is a terrible narrator. Read the book instead.

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Who Is – Peter Saddington | Agile | Syngu -
February 1, 2012

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